


Knight Fall

by Astronut



Series: CrackShips [1]
Category: Star Wars Legends - All Media Types
Genre: Crack, Crack Pairing Roulette, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:54:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23723425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Astronut/pseuds/Astronut
Summary: Two Jedi discuss loneliness and moving on.  Post-Planet of Twilight.
Relationships: Kyle Katarn/Callista
Series: CrackShips [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1708726
Kudos: 2





	Knight Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Please do not repost without permission.

Knight Fall

Rosy hues tinted the sky as Yavin IV moved into true night. Its sun’s light blocked by both its own rotation at that of its mother planet Yavin, the sky would darken fully for the first time in days. The students of the praxeum gathered for an evening meal as the day’s herbivores gave way to the nocturnal predators of night. But in the old hanger level of the Grand Temple, the croaks and cries of Yavin IV were drowned out by the hum of a lightsaber. 

Here, the darkening air of the moon was thick with moisture and sweat, despite the cooling breeze blowing through the gaping hanger door. An iridescent green blade cast flickering, shifting shadows as it whistled through the air, its master driving it relentless through curing arcs and powerful thrusts. 

Arc, cut, slash, third ring stop. Parry, thrust, first ring sweep. The militaristic forms of fencing, once taught by the top instructors at Carida Imperial Academy to their most sophisticated students combined with the ancient flowing forms of the Jedi Order to create a stunning display of the art of the lightsaber. As impressive of a display as it was, no one expected anything less of the Academy’s Blademaster, Kyle Katarn. 

Sweep, parry, slash, second ring upper slice. Kyle began his routine again, revealing in pain of his punished muscles stretching and contracting. While he could have used the Force to relive his aches and banish his fatigue, he immersed himself in these feelings, allowing them to drown the pain in his heart. 

Thrust, thrust, first ring parry. The blade sliced through the humid air with ease, stopping short of Kyle’s wet brow before taking flight once more. He had gotten a message from Jan today. Like lighting, the blade crackled as it contacted an unfortunate nightmoth unable to avoid its deadly light. 

It had been a simple message, portraying only thoughts and emotions and remembrances. There was no mention of her current assignment, her current life, only that she was fine and would hopefully be able to visit him in a month or two. Such was the life of an Alpha Blue Intelligence agent. 

Sweep, slice, jump. He burned off the pain of his loneliness, taking comfort in the warm, enveloping embrace of the Force. Although he could be upstairs in the company of others, without Jan the Force could ease his troubles. 

Step, step, thrust, third ring block. Abruptly, the lightsaber’s hum died, unleashing once more the sounds of the jungle. Immersed in the Force, Kyle had felt a presence lurking in the shadows by the door. While he knew he could use the Force to invade the mind, searching out its purpose and identity, he resorted to a more efficient manner he had learned at Carida many years ago. “Who goes there?” He shouted gruffly, maintaining his combat grip on his lightsaber. 

From the shadows stepped a tall shape. Long boot encased legs disappeared beneath a fluttering cape and robe, the dark depths of the hood obscuring the figure’s face. Memories teased the edges of his mind; hauntings of friends long gone. 

“Cray? You’re alive?” 

“Hello Kyle.” The woman lowered her hood revealing short blonde hair and searching grey eyes. “It’s Callista, but yes I am alive.” She looked tired, more tired than he had ever seen her, even Luke’s most grueling sessions trying to reopen her connection to the Force. 

“What are you doing here, Callista?” He used her name to remind himself that this was not the young woman he had known at the Academy. 

“I was lonely.” 

Pain radiated through her voice, causing Kyle’s own wounds to throb in sympathy. Barring those feelings away, he shook his head. He could not allow himself to feel sympathy for the woman who would rather fake her death than say goodbye. “You chose this path and now you must walk it alone.” 

“I know. I just wanted a chance find my own abilities, away from Luke and his students. And now I’m afraid I’ve lost him forever.” 

Kyle could no longer take the pained look in her eyes. Turning from her, he reignited his lightsaber, flowing once more through the forms. “Welcome to the Outcasts. Our paths may be parallel, but void of intersections, they are lonely. Myself, Keiran, Mara, Tainer, and you.” Switching from a high block to a low slash, he felt a jolt of hostility from Callista as he mentioned Mara. “We need to walk alone to find ourselves. Only then are we be fit company.” He winced, thinking of Jan and threw himself more fully into his practice. Swipe, thrust, parry, block. 

He stumbled as his whirling blade contacted something hard. A yellow lightsaber had blocked his thrust. “I’ve been an outcast before. That I can handle.” She spun, knocking his blade out of line, forcing him back a step to avoid a gut splitting blow. 

“I never said you couldn’t, just reminding you that your path will be a lonely one,” Kyle grunted. He circled her, using his longer reach to swipe at her head and feet. 

“Luke understands me; he knows that I will have to walk alone before we can walk together.” Jumping over his blade, she threw herself into a tumbling roll. Stopping in a crouch, she quickly lashed out with a blow that forced Kyle to block in from his inner ring of defense. Knowing that her close proximity would allow him to use his strength to his advantaged, she quickly stepped back, bobbing in and out of his reach.

Step in, step in, thrust, block, retreat. She fell into a pattern designed to draw him out. It was a simple fighting style, best suited to a woman of quick agility and speed. However, an experienced Jedi could easily overcome it. “Luke knows, which is why he’s moved on.” Step in, step in. On the second step she jerked back, encounter a wall of Force energy. Concentrating, Kyle sent the wall soaring backward, knocking her from her feet. The sun yellow blade rolled from her grasp, a cut off automatically extinguishing its light. 

“Not really fair to use telekinesis in a lightsaber practice duel,” she said sadly, slowly climbing to her feet. Kyle could tell she was frustrated by her own inability to respond in turn. 

“Sometimes you have to expect the unexpected,” he said softly. “And don’t whine about it or you’ll start sounding like Keiran.” 

Callista allowed a brief smile to touch her face returning her youthful beauty before it slid back to a frown. Kyle leaned over and picked up her blade, running his hands over the well-crafted hilt. 

“He’s not here, is he?” Her question came as more of a statement. 

“No, he’s not,” he said, studying her blade rather than the pained expression he knew her to be wearing. “He left for Courscant. Kam and Tionne are running things. I believe he was going to attend the Antilles wedding. From there, I think he’s returning to his wandering. Alone.” He stressed the last, willing her to understand she was no longer welcomed. While he felt for the woman standing in front of him, he could not stand what she had done to Luke, to the entire Jedi Order. No good could come from their reunification. He held out her lightsaber to her, intending for it to be a sign of dismissal. 

“I know,” she said in a soft whisper. “I had just hoped that by coming here maybe, just maybe, I wouldn’t be lonely anymore.” Through the Force, Kyle experienced an outpouring of raw pain and emotion. As she took the blade in his hand, the feelings intensified. He could have sooner let go of a high voltage line than he could have let go of her lightsaber. Those grey pained eyes contacted his and he was lost in the resonating tide of their loneliness. 

Her lips met his, at first soft and hesitant. Fire ran across his skin at her touch, igniting feelings that he had not felt for months. Then their lips were harder, probing, demanding comfort and companionship. His left hand found her cheek, gently caressing the soft skin, moving to entangle itself in familiar short hair. 

Then her hand met his cheek. Soft and war, its caress jolted him to his senses. This was not Jan. This was not her short stature, nor her biomechanical hand. He pulled back, violently breaking the kiss. “No. We can’t do this.” 

“Why not?” she pleaded. “You said it yourself, we are both outcasts. We need each other. Only you can understand me like Luke did. You can even help train me like you did for Mara. Outcasts have no ties to anyone, only to ourselves.” She kissed him deeply, suffocatingly, and pulled him ever closer. Closing his eyes, he allowed his right hand to drift upward. Abruptly, she stopped the kiss, looking down to star at the shining yellow blade now piercing her chest. 

Kyle allowed the blade to slip from his hand where it had been since the conclusion of the battle. As he watched, Callista’s body fell to the floor, her sad grey eyes unseeing. “I’m sorry, Callista,” Kyle murmured. “I couldn’t allow you to ruin everything again.” 

Walking over, he turned off the humming blade. In a brief moment of black humor, he wondered if this would cancel out the debt he owed Mara for saving his life. Lifting the body across his broad shoulders, he staggered out into the dark jungle, knowing that in its depths, the wild creatures would insure that Callista would have plenty of company. Kyle also knew by the guilt crawling and boiling in his gut that as long as he had Jan, he would never need to feel lonely. 

The End


End file.
